Well obviously I'm the same, as I recognized it. He's a killer guitarist with tone for days. I'm thinking of picking up a Keeley BD2 next time I'm in the states, tho I just bought a Marshall Bluesbreaker mk1 pedal, and I'm not sure if I need another overdrive pedal with "blues" in the name.

^ That JM looks the same as my '02 CIJ, posted in a pic a few pages back. Looks like you've got the buzz-stop tailpiece, er, thingy, that helps prevent the notorious Jazzmaster / Jaguar issue of the strings coming off the bridge saddles when picked hard.

Apparently the pickups on the Japanese versions are actually closer to the Strat design than proper American JM units, with a narrower and taller coil. Other than that, I can't fault mine at all, and it sounds fine to me, especially as my Strat has been bastardised with humbuckers.

^ That JM looks the same as my '02 CIJ, posted in a pic a few pages back. Looks like you've got the buzz-stop tailpiece, er, thingy, that helps prevent the notorious Jazzmaster / Jaguar issue of the strings coming off the bridge saddles when picked hard.

Apparently the pickups on the Japanese versions are actually closer to the Strat design than proper American JM units, with a narrower and taller coil. Other than that, I can't fault mine at all, and it sounds fine to me, especially as my Strat has been bastardised with humbuckers.

I saw yours. It probably subconsciously inspired me to get this one. It has upgraded pickups in it. Seymour Duncan Vintage or something like that. Can't wait for it to come in. Should compliment my SG nicely.

Every actually pick one up and play one? Rics are gorgeous to behold and hear, but their playability is very, shall we say, discriminating. Myself, I'm pining away for a 4001 bass in Azureglo.

Yhea I played one for an two hours about a couple weeks ago at a friends house. He did admit though, that his beater (some copy of the stratocaster he paid like $100 for) was easier to make work with most songs vs the Ric. But I still want one. I got a Fender Strat and an Fender Acoustic with pickups that do fine for my other stuff. I kinda just want the Ric so I can hang it up on my wall like art...... So gorgeous......

Yes, but they only come into play when you flick the little switch next to them (can you see that in the photo?) from normal to rhythm mode. Rhythm is just the neck pickup, but even with that little wheel turned to the brightest tone setting, it is mellower than on the normal setting (where you can use the bridge or both pickups too). Seems like a useless gimmick, but actually worked well for me when I used it live as it's a very bright-sounding guitar and my amp can be a bit piercing at higher volumes.

Also a few pages back...my Rick 360/6, in Fireglo. Yes, the neck is very thin. You need to have a pretty tidy and disciplined fretting technique to play chords cleanly if there are any open strings involved (i.e. B7 at the first position). For general use the Jazzmaster or a Tele can do many of the same things, but plug the Rick into a compressor, whack up the treble into a good cranked but clean tube amp, and nothing else on earth sounds better. On the other hand, it can't match the bluesy neck pickup tones of a Fender...that Jazzmaster with Duncans should be outstanding for this.